Job description
If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career.
Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.
Job Duties
Partner with engineering and product leadership to define technical strategy and delivery roadmaps that improve the student experience at scale
Build and ship production-grade software while establishing engineering standards others follow
Lead Agile delivery practices that balance rigorous planning with rapid execution and predictable outcomes
Design and evolve cloud-native architectures with strong emphasis on scalability, observability, reliability, security, and operational supportability
Evaluate technical decisions through a build, buy, borrow, or bot lens with focus on speed-to-value, sustainability, and fiscal responsibility
Mentor engineers on modern software engineering practices, AI-assisted development workflows, and emerging technologies
Prototype new tools, frameworks, and architectural patterns through proof-of-value initiatives
Drive engineering excellence across multiple teams by establishing repeatable delivery patterns and operational standards
Partner closely with infrastructure, cloud, security, architecture, and product teams as a peer technical leader
Identify architectural inefficiencies and technical debt, proposing practical and cost-effective solutions grounded in data
Communicate technical strategy, dependencies, tradeoffs, and risks clearly to executive leadership
Support operational readiness, incident response, and day-2 supportability across enterprise systems
Lead through accountability, urgency, ownership, and attention to detail
Participate in critical operational events and provide leadership during high-impact incidents when needed
Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering, or related field
10+ years of progressive software engineering experience including architecture, delivery leadership, and technical mentorship across multiple teams
Experience building and operating web applications using Java, REST APIs, SQL, and Git in enterprise environments
Experience designing and delivering system integrations with third-party and internal platforms
Track record in large-scale enterprise IT organizations with established operational processes
Equivalent relevant experience may substitute for education (1 year experience per 1 year education, at hiring manager discretion)
Preferred Qualifications
Master’s Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field
Experience with Kafka/Confluent and integration middleware (Apache Camel, MuleSoft, or similar)
Hands-on AWS experience: ECS/EKS, Lambda, SNS/SQS, API Gateway, Terraform
Spring Boot, Kubernetes, and container orchestration in production
Observability stacks (Dynatrace, Datadog, or similar) including custom metrics and SLO management
Familiarity with AI/ML platforms, LLM integration, and agentic frameworks
Higher education, EdTech, or regulated industry experience
ITIL v4 Foundation or higher; AWS Solutions Architect or CKA certification
Experience across multiple industry verticals
Why Join WGU
At WGU, you’ll help shape technology that directly impacts student success at national scale. You’ll join an organization that values innovation, accountability, engineering excellence, and mission-driven work. This role offers the opportunity to influence enterprise architecture, modernize delivery practices, and help define how AI-enabled software engineering evolves within a leading online university.
Disclaimer
This position description outlines the primary duties, responsibilities, requirements, and working conditions of the role. Management reserves the right to modify responsibilities as needed to meet organizational needs.
This position requires occasional travel of up to 20%, including attendance at designated company summits, typically one to two times per year.
Additional Information
- Disclaimer: The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It’s not all-inclusive.
- Accommodations: Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at recruiting@wgu.edu.
- Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.